Durango/La Plata County Arpt. Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Durango, Colorado 81301
Saturday, December 28, 2002 14:50 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said made a crosswind approach for the runway. He said he entered a gradual climb to slow his airplane down enough to lower the landing gear, and then hit the gear switch thinking he had engaged it. The pilot turned on downwind until the other traffic was clear, and then subsequently turned on to base and final. The pilot said he did not realize there was a problem until he struck the runway. The airplane landed with the gear fully retracted damaging the bottom fuselage, flaps, and propeller. An examination of the airplane revealed no systems anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to extend the landing gear. A contributing factor is the pilot's failure to follow the checklist.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/28/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1450
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Durango
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81301
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 370905N
Event Location Longitude 1074514W
Event Location Airport Durango/La Plata County Arpt.
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DRO
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 6885
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1450 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 20
Weather Observation Facility ID DRO
Elevation of weather observation facility 6685
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 1
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 2
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -8
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 40
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.2
Density Altitude (feet) 6456
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13331
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Dec 28 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1843
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 13 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City, UT FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1592W
NTSB Number DEN03LA029
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model F33A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number CE-838
Certified Max Gross Weight 3400
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 5
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 14 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 30
Airframe Hours 5370
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Joseph Anderson & Robert Dunavant
Aircraft Owner Street Address 16170 Highway 18 South
Aircraft Owner City Bolivar
Aircraft Owner State TN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 38008
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Robert W. Dunavant
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1540 Nuckolls Road
Operator City Bolivat
Operator State TN
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 38008
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code BGD
Departure City Borger
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1320
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code DRO
Destination City Durango
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 1 2003 2:41PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 02
Runway Length 9201
Runway Width 150
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --